Generally speaking, a smart card is extensively applied to two fields. One is the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) in wireless communication, and another one is the identification system, such as the financial card, ATM card or health insurance card, etc. . . . A SIM card is used in a mobile communication device. A person who uses the wireless network system, such as GSM or CDMA system, has the SIM card issued by the related communication service company. The SIM card stores the user information, including the user's phone number, phone book, call restriction, personal identity number (PIN), personal unblock key (PUK), etc. . . . Further, an authentic SIM card is adopted by GSM communication system for communication, so that the user can be allowed to enter into the GSM communication network for transmitting information.
Generally, the SIM card is the so-called plug-in sized card, and the size is approximately 25 mm in length and 15 mm in width. Only the copper parts are actually used for connection. When the SIM card connects to a cellular phone, both of them have at least five junctions. The SIM card is composed of five parts including CPU, RAM, ROM, EEPROM or Flash and serial communication unit. The information stored in the SIM card includes (1) control channel information in a GSM system; (2) International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI); (3) user key and secret algorithm; (4) Personal Identification Number (PIN) and Personal Unlocking Key (PUK); and (5) SIM Tool Kit (STK).
With the wide-spread usage of smart cards in mobile industry such as SIM for GSM, USIM for WCDMA, RUIM for CDMA2000 and PIM for PHS network, a large variety of applications have been developed by utilizing Smart cards resided in the mobile phone (SIM/USIM/RUIM/PIM, hereafter referred as UICC, Universal Integrated Circuit Card) to provide security services. Mobile operators ensure the security of the use of mobile service by authenticating the keys stored in the Smart cards that mobile operators issued to the subscribers. In addition, mobile operators provide also premium services like mobile banking, mobile stock trading service by storing keys provided by the banks or other service providers in the SIM cards. The keys are manipulated through an application interface developed by SIM Tool Kit (STK) which is also resided in the SIM card itself. When WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) phones were available, WIM (Wireless Identity Module) was also developed by the SIM card vendors to secure WAP security by storing certificate and PKI algorithm in the SIM itself (SWIM card) or another standalone WIM card which can be inserted into another card slot in the mobile phone.
The keypad and display screen of the mobile phone facilitate the inserted smart card with great user interface and the mobile nature of remote access to service providers further accomplishes the goal of service mobility. In order to achieve the service mobility, service providers like banks, credit card issuers, transportation card issuers, certificate issuers and stock brokers are eagerly to cooperate with the mobile operator to issue enhanced SIM cards so as to provide services which fall into their professions. However, the provisioning and management of the SIM capability and functionalities are in control of the mobile operators therefore it forms a closed system where only agreed parties are allowed to participate. Furthermore, the relationship between service providers and mobile operators are one of mutual distrust and both have similar agendas over control of security and payment methods. This becomes the main obstacle to the development of mobile security services. Therefore, the present invention intends to resolve the above obstacles.
On the other hand, the traditional smart card is a ISO sized card, with 84 mm in length and 54 mm in width, and generally is applied in financial transaction system such as financial card, credit card, ATM card, or the identification system such as the health insurance card. Some smart cards include antennas surrounded within plastic cards to provide contactless application, called the contactless card, and are usually applied to the entrance control or the transition payment system, such as the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) and metro fee collection. The forward communication equipment, such as the Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI), the Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) and Video Enforcement System (VES), etc. adopted by the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) detects and scans the On Board Unit (OBU) disposed in car, and vice versa, so that the users are automatically charged by the backward accounting service system without stopping and retarding when they pass through the toll station.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of an IC chip card 10 according to the prior art. The IC chip card 10 has an IC chip 14, and the IC chip 14 is adhered to or embedded in a surface of a substrate 11. The substrate 11 includes an angled corner 13, for easy insertion of the IC chip card 10 into a portable device.
The IC chip card 10 includes eight contacts 15, but only six contacts 15 are used and connected to the portable device through conductive wires. The six contacts 15 are VCC (operating voltage), RST (reset), CLK (clock), GND (ground), VPP (programming voltage), and I/O (data input/output), respectively.